There are times when Sheriff Joe Arpaio has seemed untouchable. In his nearly 20 years in office, he has survived political challenges, court judgments and criminal investigations.

But a ruling filed last week by an arm of the Arizona Supreme Court could prove to be a road map to the Republican lawman’s undoing.

A three-person disciplinary panel of the state’s high court said there was enough evidence to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the sheriff and three of his closest allies participated in what the panel believes was federal crime in December 2009.

The alleged crime doesn’t stem from battles over immigration, pink underwear or any of the other things that have made Arpaio famous. Instead, it deals with a feud among local government officials in which the panel said the sheriff and his allies took things way too far.

The ruling was the result of almost two years of investigation by the State Bar of Arizona as well as two months of sworn testimony, including from Arpaio himself, in front of the Supreme Court’s disciplinary panel last year.

The panel looked at whether the two prosecutors, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his aide Lisa Aubuchon, violated ethics rules as part of the feud with local government officials in the county. During the melee, Thomas and Arpaio launched criminal investigations into at least 14 people they were doing battle with, largely over budget issues.

Investigators with the US Justice Department appear to be focusing on the same feud as part of their ongoing criminal investigation into Arpaio’s office. The Arizona Republic reported on Sunday that FBI agents teamed up with state ethics investigators during the probe.

Through a spokesman, Arpaio declined on Tuesday to talk about the feud because some of it was also the subject of lawsuits.

Last week, the Supreme Court’s disciplinary panel decided unanimously that Thomas and Aubuchon had violated enough ethics rules that they should lose their law licenses. But the panelists also made it clear in their 247-page ruling that they believed the sheriff was very much at the center of the wrongdoing. Arpaio’s name appeared 48 times in the document.

Part of the ruling focused on a Dec. 8, 2009 meeting that involved the two prosecutors, the sheriff and his No. 2 man, Chief Deputy David Hendershott.

They were meeting to discuss what to do about Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe, who was scheduled to hold a hearing the next day about whether the prosecutors should be allowed to continue investigating their fellow county officials. The foursome were afraid, according to the ruling, that Donahoe would rule against them.

During testimony before the panel, Arpaio’s longtime chief deputy said the sheriff was the one who first came up with the idea of charging the judge with a crime to force him off the case. The others agreed, Hendershott said. The next day, the prosecutors filed a criminal charges against the judge, accusing him of bribery, obstruction of justice and hindering a prosecution.

The prosecutors brought the charges “without a shred of evidence that Donahoe had committed any crime,” the ruling said. Starting on page 216, it revealed even more:

The evidence clearly and convincingly suggests that Mr. Thomas and Ms. Aubuchon, together with Chief Deputy Hendershott and Sheriff Arpaio, met on December 9, 2008, (sic) with the intention of stopping Judge Donahoe from issuing a ruling at a hearing scheduled the next day by filing criminal charges against him. That evidence is detailed in full throughout this opinion. Perhaps most telling, however, is the testimony of Sergeant Brandon Luth, who recounted Hendershott’s and Aubuchon’s reactions upon learning that the hearing had been vacated after the direct complaint against Judge Donahoe had been filed. Sgt. Luth testified that Aubuchon “looked pleased” when she mentioned to Sgt. Luth that the hearing had been cancelled. In addition, Sgt. Luth testified that when he handed the direct complaint to Mr. Hendershott and informed him that the hearing had been vacated, Mr. Hendershott uttered the word “checkmate.” This, together with all the evidence, clearly and convincingly suggests that Mr. Thomas and Ms. Aubuchon conspired to muzzle Judge Donahoe.

Were this a criminal case, we are confident that the evidence would establish this conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.

That plot, according to the panel, was a violation of federal law, specifically one that “makes it a crime to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any person in the free exercise or enjoyment of a right or privilege secured to him by the US Constitution.”

The judge clearly fell into that category, the panel’s ruling said.

The charges against Donahoe were later thrown out by another judge. Similarly, Arpaio’s investigations of the other 13 county officials he targeted also fell apart, often due to a lack of evidence or rulings that the alleged crimes had taken place so long ago that they were past the point when they could be charged.

The targets of the investigations included all five members of the county Board of Supervisors, three other judges, the county’s top two appointed officials, a high-ranking attorney for the county and two private lawyers.

Thomas charged two of the supervisors with crimes during the feud. Those charges were eventually tossed as well.

Thomas and Aubuchon have denied wrongdoing in the case. Thomas said last week he continues to be the victim of a witch hunt designed to allow corruption to continue in Maricopa County. Aubuchon appealed her disbarment this week and Thomas is expected to do the same soon.

“I have no intention of resigning,” said Arpaio, who is running for his sixth term as sheriff of Maricopa County. “They forget I have a four-decades long career in federal law enforcement that includes having been a special agent for the FBI and having worked for the Drug Enforcement Agency in the United States, as well as in Argentina, Turkey and Mexico.”

The question of President Obama's draft card: Has evidence been destroyed? Washington Times ^ | May 07, 2012 | Alan Jones

Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2012 12:53:18 PM by Smokeyblue

Changes in the wording of Selective Service System record-keeping requirements, made days after the opening of an investigation into the alleged forgery of President Barack Obama’s selective service registration form, raise serious questions about U.S. Government intentions.

The new rules allow existing copies of documents that may be sought by investigators to be destroyed.

The Selective Service System’s new privacy rules were published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, four days after the September 16 announcement by World Net Daily that the Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office “Cold Case Posse” was opening an inquiry with full subpoena power into alleged forgery of several documents concerning Obama’s birth and draft registration.

The new rules, which constitute the first update to Selective Service System privacy regulations in eleven years, were published under the title, “Privacy Act of 1974; Publication of Notice of Systems of Records.”

Ongoing controversy surrounding allegations that some of Obama’s personal identification documents and records, including his Selective Service draft registration form, are forgeries came into sharp focus seven months ago. The “Cold Case Posse,” under the leadership of Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio, opened an inquiry in response to those allegations.

“Sheriff Arpaio sent two written requests in March to the Selective Service System requesting President Obama’s draft registration records. Selective Service System officials responded to Arpaio in writing, but did not turn over any of President Obama’s registration records.”

“We believe they are stonewalling,” Zullo added. "In their latest reply letter to the Sheriff, they do not comment on, or even allude to, the microfilm being available to inspect."

Providing proof that Sheriff Joe Arpaio intends to continue his investigation of President Obama’s eligiblity, his Cold Case Posse has pressed the director of the Selective Service System not to destroy any microfilm records that may yet exist of Obama’s 1980 draft registration form.

In an emergency letter Wednesday to Selective Service System Director Lawrence Romo, Mike Zullo, the lead investigator in the Cold Case Posse, asked for reassurance that the microfilm records still exist.

“We would like to be assured of the disposition of the microfilm reel or reels containing President Obama’s Selective Service registration form,” Zullo wrote. “Please indicate whether or not you have possession of the microfilm reel or reels containing President Obama’s records or access to them.”

The concerns were raised after Arpaio’s office received official confirmation from the Selective Service System that Obama’s paper draft registration records have been destroyed after being microfilmed.

Zullo’s letter gave Romo 10 business days within receipt of the letter to respond.

Romo, who was appointed director to the U.S. Selective Service System in 2009 by President Obama, reports directly to the president.

How can you just give this guy any credit at all just because he's after Obama? You and I both know that Cops are some of the biggest liars on the planet, but you hate Obama so much that you are willing to allow this guy to do whatever he wants?

Regarding the Hawaii Department of Health, Arpaio noted he’s said since the beginning of the investigation last fall, “Show me the microfilm.”

“They won’t do that, so it looks like they’re hiding something,” he said.

Every week I'll wager Arapaio's office recieves requests for records and I would wager every week the requester is told no, that they must file an open records request before the information will be considered for release....Does it look like they are hiding something then?

Two men who identified themselves as being from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Phoenix went to the Hawaii Department of Health Monday morning requesting verification of President Barack Obama's birth certificate, said a state spokeswoman.

A Hawaii deputy attorney general gave the men information concerning the legal requirements to obtain such a document; the requirements are posted on the Health Department's website. The two men then left the office, Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said.

The two men showed Maricopa County Sheriff's Office badges and identified themselves as Michael Zullo and Brian Mackiewcz, Okubo said. They are "authorized by the Sheriff of Maricopa County, who is conducting an official investigation," a spokesman for the sheriff's office said in an email.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been researching Obama's residency status using a volunteer cold-case "posse," but now has employed a taxpayer-funded deputy, The Arizona Republic reported Monday.

Zullo is a volunteer, the Republic reported, but Okubo said that Mackiewicz presented a business card showing he is with the Threats Management Unit of the sheriff's office.

Arapaio's birth certificate investigation comes as the U.S. Justice Department is suing his office for alleged civil rights violations, including discrimination against Hispanics.

Separately, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who says he is not a "birther," said in a radio interview Thursday that Obama's Arizona ballot status is in question unless Hawaii responds positively to his request under a Hawaii law regarding confirmation of birth certificates.

Hawaii Department of Attorney General spokesman Josh Wisch said Monday the department has been in touch with Bennett since Friday and that he would need to provide legal authority showing his office is "a governmental agency or organization who for a legitimate government purpose maintains and needs to update official lists of persons in the ordinary course of the agency's or organization's activities."

Obama was born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961. Birthers contend Obama was not born in the United States and thus not eligible to be president. The state released a copy of Obama's long-form birth certificate last year, but the release did not satisfy many birthers.

Bennett, a Republican who is reportedly considering a run for governor in Arizona, said Friday he assumes he'll get the confirmation he requested in March from Hawaii officials.

After days of ridicule for launching a conspiracy theory-fueled investigation into Barack Obama’s birth certificate, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett on Tuesday backed off his threat to keep the president off the ballot in November and apologized to his state.RELATED: Emails Show How Hawaii Stiffed Arizona Secretary Of State’s Birther Investigation

“If I embarrassed the state, I apologize, but that certainly wasn’t my intent,” Bennett said in an interview with Phoenix radio station KTAR. “He’ll be on the ballot as long as he fills out the same paperwork and does the same things that everybody else has.”

Bennett said he still intends to keep asking Hawaii for verification that Obama’s birth certificate is authentic. But he said he only plans to use Hawaii’s answer as a way to satisfy demands from constituents who remain unconvinced Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States and so therefore eligible to be president.

He also said he talked to Hawaii’s attorney general on Monday night and clarified what he is looking to have verified. He said he “reworded” his request and expects to receive a response from Hawaii officials “in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

Last week, Bennett told a different Phoenix radio station it was “possible” he would keep Obama off the state’s ballot in November if Hawaii did not provide him with a satisfactory answers to his investigation.

On Tuesday, Bennett told talk show hosts Mac Watson and Larry Gaydos he had no idea about the wave of criticism he endure get after launching his investigation into the president’s birth certificate. He said again that he doesn’t consider himself a birther and he believes the president was born in Hawaii but he did this to satisfy a small number of vocal people who kept sending him angry emails about it.

“I feel like I was just trying to glue the far little corner of the carpet down,” Bennett said. “And as soon as you just touch the carpet, the whole floor buckles.”

Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Cold Case Posse investigating Barack Obama’s presidential eligibility have been promising more major revelations since their March 1 press conference, and now another event has been scheduled to unveil new information.

Arpaio told WND a press conference will be held July 17 at 2:30 p.m. local time at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Phoenix, Ariz.

WND will once again provide live Web streaming of the event.

The evidence will include information gathered in the posse’s recent investigative trip to Hawaii as well as an update on the ongoing investigation.

At the March 1 conference, as WND reported March 1, Arpaio and his Cold Case Posse announced there is probable cause that the document released by the White House in April 2011 purporting to be Obama’s original, long-form birth certificate is a forgery. The posse said it also found probable cause that Obama’s Selective Service registration form is fraudulent.